Its Been Awhile
by bowlnbat
Summary: Set a year after "Rise Up." Erica is back for a surgery, but runs into an old flame in the process. Callie/Erica past and perhaps future?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Sadly, I do not own any of these characters. If I did, Erica Hahn would still be around. Anyway they belong to ABC, tools that they are.

**Author's Note:** I am not really sure where this story is going, but I know that I have at least two more chapters already written. I guess I will wait and see what the responses are like and where my muse takes me.

* * *

The memories she had of this town were so vivid in her mind the moment she stepped off the plane. Her kissing Callie in the elevator, Callie kissing her in front of the hospital, the weeks that went by while they avoided each other, the conversation where they decided to give it a try, the bad sex, the great sex, her own revelation about her sexual orientation, Callie telling her about sleeping with Sloan, twice, and the most painful of them all—the night she walked away from Seattle Grace and Callie Torres.

It had been almost a year since Dr. Erica Hahn had left Seattle Grace Hospital for ethical reasons, but had left Seattle all together for emotional ones. She could've went back to Seattle Presbyterian, but she needed out. She needed time to heal. She hadn't called anyone to tell them she was coming. She figured as soon as the Chief had called her, all of Seattle Grace would know about it. Besides, this was not a social visit. She was here for her patient, Michael Norris. They finally had a heart and since he was too weak to travel to Mass General in Boston, she had to come back to Seattle. After all the years she spent with this patient everything that had happened to this man and his family, there was no way she was letting another surgeon perform the transplant. Especially not one who got their training from Seattle Grace.

Erica still harbored ill feelings towards Izzie Stevens, the Chief and everyone at Seattle Grace for not standing up and saying what Stevens did was wrong. She still couldn't believe the Chief thought a suspension was enough for what she did…she stole a heart!!!

She had decided long before she landed in Seattle that her first stop would be the hospital. With that in mind she made sure to book a flight that landed after 7:00pm. The day shift would be ending and unless Callie was on call, she wouldn't be there. By the time she got her luggage, a single bag since she only played to be here three or four days at the most, and made her way to the hospital it was past 8:00pm. It was as she was walking up the wide path towards the front entrance that she saw her.

Dr. Callie Torres was in the front lobby on her phone. Her back was to Erica, but she would have recognized her from any angle. Erica quickly stepped out of the light and behind a tree. Perfectly content to wait there all night if it meant she didn't have to come face to face with Callie.

She didn't have to wait long though, about five minutes latershe saw Callie greet a blonde woman Erica had never seen before with a brief kiss. It hurt. She couldn't believe how much it still hurt. As Callie and the other woman walked out of the hospital, Erica was able to overhear a small amount of the conversation.

"How about Joe's?" Callie asked.

"Sounds perfect. Just what I need after a day like today, but just one or two rounds. I am exhausted and want to get to bed early if possible," the blonde replied.

"Oh I think getting to bed early is possible, but whether or not you get to sleep…well that's another question," Callie replied with a grin.

Erica about burst into tears right there. She never thought that Callie had been living a life of celibacy, but now that she actually saw it with her own eyes…it shook her to the core. Once Callie was gone, Erica took a deep breathe and said aloud, "Get your act together Hahn. You're here for a patient. Not her."

With her shoulders back and head held high, Dr. Erica Hahn walked back through the doors of Seattle Grace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1. Nothing's changed.

**Author's Note:** This will most likely be the last update until Sunday or Monday. Pesky holidays. Leave no time for writing....let me know what you guys think!

* * *

It only could have been at most ten minutes that Erica had been in the hospital and she already wanted out. The only person she had talked to was the nurse at the front desk to get her temporary ID badge and to find out if the Chief was still around. Unfortunately for her, he was. As she was waiting for the elevator, the one person she could have gone an entire lifetime without seeing again found her.

"Why are you here Erica?" Dr. Mark Sloan asked. The disdain in his voice was evident. There was an unspoken, mutual dislike between the two doctors. Mark because of what Erica had done to Callie and Erica because of what Mark had done with Callie—twice.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I am here to keep a man alive. A man this hospital has tried to kill—twice." The two doctors never mad eye contact and Erica swore this was the slowest moving elevator in history.

"Does she know you're here?" he asked.

"Well, I assume you would know that better than I would," Erica was really getting irritated with Sloan and as much as tried, which wasn't a lot, couldn't keep the contempt out of her voice.

"You should've called. At least had the decency to given her the heads up that you were coming."

"Why? You're going to call her right now anyway. She'll find a way out of work tomorrow, I'll do my transplant and be on my way. We don't even have to see each other." Erica didn't think she could stand to see Callie anyway. Not after what she saw outside. It just hurt too much and Erica was not up for the task of pretending she was ok.

"It's a wonder you know how to operate on hearts; seeing as you don't actually have one of your own."

Erica didn't have a response and thankfully she didn't need to come up with one because the doors to the elevator had finally opened. Mark turned to walk away and as the doors began to close, Erica watched him pull out his cell phone, just as she predicted he would.

* * *

Mark knew that Callie was at Joe's with Nurse Melanie, but this was worth the interruption. Callie's phone rang a few times before it finally went to voicemail. Mark sighed and began to leave a message.

"Callie, it's me. I know your out, but trust me on this…you want to call me back. Actually you need to call me back. ASAP. Like right now. OK? Alright then…bye. Call me!!"

* * *

The music had been so loud in Joe's that Callie never even heard her phone ring, but happened to glance and see that she had a new message. She almost ignored it, but stole a quick glance to see who called. When she saw that it was Mark, the same Mark who knew she was out with Melanie, she figured it was important and that she had better check it.

"Excuse me, I've got to check this message. I think it might be about a patient," Callie said as she stood to go out side for some quiet.

"Oh no problem, I'll order us another round while you do that," Melanie replied with the sweetest smile Callie had ever seen.

"Perfect." Callie walked outside to listen to her message. When she heard it she wanted to kill Mark. He had left a message with no information in it. She hated that, the purpose of messages was to inform someone of something, not just say 'call me back'. None the less, Callie did in fact call him back.

"Its about time," Mark yelled into the phone.

"Whoa!! What the hell? What's so important you had to call me while I was out? Out with a very cute nurse who hasn't figured out I am a basket case yet?"

"I don't know how to say this, so I am just going to blurt. Blurting seems like a good approach," Mark was rambling and it was beginning to annoy Callie.

"Mark! Fine, blurt, but could you hurry it up?!!"

"Its Erica, she--," Mark didn't even finish was he was saying before Callie interjected.

"Oh my God! What happened? Is she ok? Where is she? How in the hell do you know anything about Erica?" Callie rattled off questions without even thinking. She hadn't thought about Erica Hahn in almost a month. Well, with the exception of when she decided to rearrange her room and it reminded her of when Erica had helped her move into that apartment in the first place; when she asked Callie out on their first real date.

"Calm down!!! Nothing happened," Mark quipped back.

"Then why are we talking about her?"

"Because, she's here."

"Here?" Callie almost didn't believe him.

"Here. At Seattle Grace. As we speak. Dr. Erica Hahn is in with the Chief," Mark stated.

"I have to go," Callie said and the line went dead. Mark knew this wasn't going to go well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** I know its been quite some time since I have updated. I promise I will get better at it, but I have found myself completely swamped. I do have the next chapter written. I just have to put it on the computer. Let me know what you think. Reviews are always a good thing!!!

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1. It all still applies.

* * *

Callie knew leaving Melanie at Joe's was wrong. She shouldn't care that Erica was back in town, but that didn't matter. She cared. Melanie took the abrupt end to their evening well. Callie didn't tell her the real reason she needed to leave. "A doctor at the hospital needs some help," no questions asked.

Mark saw Callie's car enter the lot at Seattle Grace. As soon as she had hung up on him, he knew she was heading straight for the hospital. He was determined not to let her enter the doors.

"Mark! Get out of my way," Callie yelled as she was walking through the lot. The same parking lot she had last seen Erica.

"Callie, come on," Mark had moved right in her path. "This is not a good idea and you know it. You're gonna go in there, scream and yell, walk away and think about what you just did. Then you'll sulk. You don't want to sulk. Its not becoming."

Callie just stared at Mark, contemplating what he had said. "Mark, shut up and move!!!"

"Fine, but I want it on the record that I am against this 100 percent!!!"

"Duly noted. Now move," Callie yelled.

Callie recognized the silhouette in the Chief's office right away. They hadn't been together long, but she had memorized every inch of Erica during that short time. Just as Callie began to remember the good times, because there were good times, she saw Erica start to leave the Chief's office. Her mind told her to turn and walk away, but her body was paralyzed. Like a deer caught in headlights.

Erica definitely hadn't expected to see Callie standing in the hall. TO say she was stunned was an understatement. It seemed like several minutes before Erica finally found her voice, "Dr. Torres—"

"Dr. Torres? No! You don't get to treat me like some colleague you worked with at some hospital," Callie's voice was almost inaudible, but there was no mistaking the harshness in her tone.

"Callie, at this hospital you are a colleague that I worked with. I can't let what happened between us back into the walls of this place. It took me too long to be able to even walk back through the doors."

"You? You never walked back through the doors!" Callie's voice was much louder now and Erica glanced around to see how many people were staring. She noticed just a few people, but Callie didn't seem to notice. That or she just didn't care. "You just left! Not even so much as a goodbye. You left me here to deal with the aftermath. People asking me where you went, wondering why I cared so much and the outing of us as a couple. You left me here to deal with all of that on my own. So, you never came back!!"

After Callie had taken a few breaths she glanced around and finally seemed to realize the people surrounding them. By now there was a small crowd gathering. Some on the steps, some on the floor below them and Mark off to the side, waiting to step in if necessary.

"Callie, you have no idea what I went through!" It was unlike Erica to engage in such an argument, but she was already on edge to begin with that Callie's words just sent her over. "Did I leave Seattle Grace? Absolutely! And you don't get to be mad at me for that. After everything that we had been through here—you can't blame me for leaving. You pushed me away every chance you got. I mean you slept with me in the morning and then slept with Mark Sloane four hours later!!"

"Hey!" Mark took that as his cue to stop this little show. "That's enough Erica!"

"No," Callie said, "She's right. I did. I can't stop her from speaking the truth."

Turning to Erica, Callie continued "Can we please go some where to talk?"

Erica sighed, but agreed "Anywhere that's not Seattle Grace or Joe's works for me."


End file.
